Allele-specific real-time polymerase chain reaction as a tool for urate transporter 1 mutation detection

Allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (ASPCR) method has long been applied for the detection of nucleotide variations and genotyping, which are detected by the presence or absence of DNA amplification PCR products. Recently, Real-Time PCR genotyping has fast developed and offered a rapid method of detecting mutations without the need of gel electrophoresis as with ASPCR. Here, we describe an easy and rapid touchdown real-time PCR method for the detection of nucleotide variations. Using our method we successfully detect two main mutations in human urate transporter 1 (SLC22A12), W258X and R90H, and validate the results. The method can potentially be applied to genotype of various other nucleotide variations.